America Peru Lima’s restaurant Maido, led by chef Mitsuharu Tsumura, has been named the world’s best restaurant in 2025, highlighting the city’s rise as a global gastronomic destination through its fusion of Peruvian and Japanese flavor
Oceania Tonga The development of the private sector is the primary focus of Tonga's new budget, the Prime Minister Hon. Dr 'Aisake Eke said as his Cabinet finalized the budget for 2025-2026, to be presented to the Legislative Assembly this week
Europe Estonia A cultural cooperation programme until the year 2029 has been signed with Ukraine at mInisterial level
Asia Qatar Free admission to Qatar Museums venues and exhibitions today 18 May and educational activities will celebrate International Museum Day; museum should evolve to remain an essential connection amid ongoing changes, actively shaping resilient communities
Europe Lithuania Within the plan to extend the high-speed railway Rail Baltica up to 114 km in Lithuania by 2025, a new tender has been issued for a 12,4 km stretch
Europe Latvia 91% of Liepaja residents would be happy to participate in Liepaja European Capital of Culture 2027 or Liepaja 2027 events as audience and are less keen on more active forms of involvement - a study on local and regional cultural habits has concluded
Africa Morocco Morocco is among 64 countries where the majority of people believe the top purpose of democracy is to improve living standards and well-being, not just as a system to protect freedoms, according to 2025 Democracy Perception Index
Africa South Sudan South Sudan must repay $657 million to the African Export-Import Bank over unpaid pandemic and trade-related loans; according to Global Trade Review, the British court ruling followed gov and central bank failure to respond to lawsuit or attend hearings
Europe Kosovo Former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla Pjeter Shala appealed against the ICC Hague Trial verdict jailing him for 18 years for war crimes; the prosecution and victims’ representative insisted the sentencing was fair
Africa Sudan Widespread and systematic violations against women and girls in Sudan: conflict-related sexual violence, abductions, killings - many attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces - have been reported and condemned by independent human rights experts
Asia Kuwait 3rd Gulf Housing Week, 18-22 May, will be hosted in Kuwait under the theme “Real Estate Development for Sustainable Housing”; the event is part of ongoing efforts by Gulf Cooperation Council states to strengthen regional cooperation in the housing sector
Oceania Tuvalu At a panel with the advertising industry at Cairns Crocodiles - an international festival - the groundbreaking campaign presenting Tuvalu as first 'digital nation' has been recalled as powerful tool to address climate issues with truly impacting results
Europe North Macedonia The two former directors of a COVID-19 modular hospital in the city of Tetovo were given jail sentences for endangering public safety over a fire that on 8 September 2021 killed 14 patients for a lack of fire extinguishers
America United States Scientists are considering leaving the US as the administration shutters whole health divisions and curbs what can be studied: in a recent poll by Nature 75% of the 1.600 interviewed said they were thinking of moving elsewhere, mostly to Canada or Europe